Not This Time
by EmeraldLava
Summary: A rift in the space-time continuum alters cartoon history. To correct the distortion, half-ghost Danny Phantom inadvertently teams with a crime fighting duo, a dragon shapeshifter, and a boy with fairly odd parents.
1. Chapter 1

**Edit:**** I can't update for the next two weeks because I have to study for my Final Exams.**

**So I just wanna thank those who have reviewed, followed, and favorited this story, you all make me extremely happy. :)**

_Not This Time_

Friday the thirteenth had an infamous superstition in some cultures. The day was suspected to be bad luck, or simply lacking in luck, depending upon perspective. It was a day when many preferred to remain indoors. Even Johnny 13 and his shadow, both known for their fearlessly unlucky nature, refused to wander around on that particular Friday.

Strange things happened on superstitious days.

"Would you _knock it off!"_

Danny Fenton, currently in his Phantom persona, hurled through the air. Valiantly, he attempted to evade a clingy ghost.

"Won't you be my _friend?" _

The blue skinned, pajama-clad ghost chased relentlessly after the poor halfa. Through the Ghost Zone they went, around hovering doors, over other ghost's domains, and through the space-like dimension. Soon the boy's patience was swiftly thinning.

"_Quit it!_"

He hadn't intended on staying so long in the Ghost Zone.

"Be my friend!"

He also hadn't intended on becoming separated from his close companions.

"_No!"_

Luck just didn't seem to be with him that day.

Danny wasn't much of a superstitious guy, but sometimes he wondered about his luck. Like, for example, when the friend-obsessed ghost swerved and managed enough of a boost in speed to narrowly catch the frazzled boy in a hug. Hastily the ghost-boy lurched to the side and successfully avoided one of the ghost's crushing hugs. He was fond of breathing and thus refused to be caught, thanks. Still, he was becoming frustrated.

"Would you just-"

The ghost took another swipe, snagging his ankle, but he hurriedly twisted out of the ghost's grip. Suddenly he gasped as a door floated in his path. Frantically, he spun around the door to avoid a painful collision and grappled with the momentum to steady his flight. Apparently they had entered another section of ghost lairs. Glancing back at his pursuer, he made a hasty decision.

He slammed into a passing door.

And promptly wished he hadn't.

The ancient, navy blue door swung open under his weight, nearly cracking under his momentum's force and speed. Danny's propulsion carried him further into the room until he whammed against a wall. Dust billowed and the teen convulsed in a sneezing fit as he slid down against the wall. While he upchucked snot and caused more dust to shift due to his breath, the ghost boy was unaware that a certain precious artifact shook precariously on its pedestal.

As he continued to sneeze a relatively safe distance away from the device, the object settled on its stand. Without any energy or force disrupting the balance within the room, the artifact would remain secure.

Then Danny went and tripped over an item.

Like dominoes, the hourglass he knocked over toppled against another hourglass and _that _one fell and knocked over yet another hourglass and so forth as they tumbled in a haphazard pattern towards the pedestal. Similar to watching a slow motion horror film, the ghost boy stared as the last glass tapped against the column.

The elaborately designed and grand hourglass resting atop the pedestal tipped, started to fall, touched the ground-

"Oh, crud."

_ -_and shattered.

In an explosion of heat**, **light, sound, glass, and the release of compressed air, jagged shards pierced the air in all directions. Suddenly Danny was flipping, burning, spinning, _so hot, too dizzy_, and _oh _he was gonna be sick. A part of him, (his chest? His face? The world was whirling too violently to think) slammed into a shaking, heated surface. Small sharp things slashed his burning limbs and he flinched. Heat and light scorched his eyes.

Rumbling reverberated and suddenly the lair was still and silent. Slowly he pried his crispy and sliced form from the ceiling and twisted painfully to confront any potential threats that may have been released from the container. Though his eyes were still shut since light still overwhelmed the area, he slipped into a fighting stance.

Soon, however, the light faded and as his eyes adjusted he noticed there was no one else in the room. Relaxing slightly, his attention focused on the mess on the floor. Hourglasses lay chaotically throughout the room, the majority of them on their side. If the dust was any indication, the ghost's lair was unlived in and unused. Excluding all the hourglasses scattered on the floor, and the shattered remains of the grand hourglass, there were no other possessions or enemies to personify the room.

"_Someone's _obsessed with hourglasses..." he muttered and cringed as he slowly lowered himself to the floor.

He rubbed a gradually healing cheek with a scratched up hand and eyed the lair. There was something familiar about the devices, and a nagging sensation in the back of his mind hinted that he should know _why _they seemed so familiar, as if he should know_ who_ the hourglasses connected to, but the name and face eluded him. Then there was another bothersome feeling that he had done something drastically wrong by accidentally knocking over that hourglass, but he was all too eager to ignore _that _sensation for now. Pushing the thoughts away, he floated closer to examine the damage.

When he was near enough to touch the oddly undamaged surface of the sapphire base of the former grand hourglass, he leaned forwards and noticed his reflection.

"_Ooo."_ Danny winced, noting his unnaturally rosy face on his normally pale skin. "_That _doesn't look pretty."

Something glinted in the corner of his vision and he shifted his gaze to examine the source. Writing was inscribed on the edge of the base. Curiosity piqued, he leaned closer.

"What in the world...?"

The inscription glowed. A sensation of dread settled in his stomach.

_Possibilities abound, future askew_

_time that once was separate is joined, anew._

_Previously linear is now twisted for few._

Danny frowned. "Weird."

He shifted uncomfortably. The prickling of unease increased into a churning in his gut. Warily, he stood. His gaze subconsciously darted about the navy colored lair, habitually searching for threats he didn't sense.

"Freaky." He muttered, absently noting that no ghost had appeared to attack him.

Shaking himself out of his daze, he was suddenly struck by an unsettling realization.

"Klemper...?" Danny murmured cautiously. "Where'd you go...?"

Nothing but eerie silence answered.

_Something's wrong... _He thought to himself, and it was not just because he had seemingly lost the bothersome ghost. The dread increased.

"Somehow I _really _wouldn't mind Klemper's company right about now." He mumbled.

At least _then _he'd have some normalcy during that day

Deciding not to linger any longer in the tense atmosphere, he rose into the air and hastily flew to the exit. No furious ghost appeared. Unnerved by the sheer lack of any form of beings, he hastened his speed and shot away. He flew fast until the crawling feeling faded.

Though had Danny turned to glance behind him, he would have realized something unusually strange.

The door had vanished.

**~(~_~)~**

Elsewhere, in the lair of a blue-skinned scientist, a Pan-Dimensional Vortex Inducer flickered to life.

**~(~_~)~**

"Sam? Tucker?" He called for the umpteenth time.

Sighing irritably, he glared at his surroundings. His day had just been _off_. He had actually woken up on time and arrived at school _early._ Dash had shoved him into his locker more than usual. Skulker _and _Ember interrupted his English class _together _with declarations of his defeat, utterly confusing his classmates. _Then_ he had detention followed by an unusual lack of ghosts to hunt so of _course_ he and his friends decided to try to map out more of the Ghost Zone only for them to become _lost _on the way and they just _had _to run into Klemper, the irritating overly-friendly pest, and so _naturally _the trio were separated when Klemper decided chasing Danny was more fun than guiding them to a familiar area. And _now_ there was probably going to be an angry ghost chasing him for breaking their hourglass and he. Was. Still. _Lost._

_Thunk_.

"_Ow!"_

Tumbling forwards, he whirled to face whatever had smacked against the back of his head. A metal boomerang whirred in place in front of him before stopping and dropping. Hastily, he caught the device and raised the other hand to rub the sore spot. Rumbling echoed and he looked at the source with a smile.

He floated over to the vehicle. "It's about time you showed up."

The gothic driver smiled dryly in return. "If you didn't fly so fast we would've been here sooner."

Danny smiled sheepishly. "C'mon, let's get outta here. This place is weirding me out."

"The _ghost_ boy's spooked of the _Ghost _Zone?" The front passenger teased.

"C'mon guys…" the halfa whined, phasing through the Specter Speeder's windshield and into the empty middle seat. "I was almost mauled by Klemper and a freaky hourglass!. Can't a guy get some sympathy or understanding?"

His two friends shared a glance. "Nope!" They chorused.

"Besides," the goth girl added, "let's hope you didn't destroy something important."

"Yeah!" His techno-geek companion chirped. "For all we know, you just wrecked the space-time continuum!"

"Don't jinx me, Tuck." Danny groaned. "Don't jinx me."

**~(~_~)~**

**This story will be a crossover, but since no characters from other cartoons have appeared yet, I'll leave it labeled under Danny Phantom for now.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Not This Time_

Eventually the trio found their way to the Fenton portal, but the portal didn't lead to the expected Fenton household.

"You jinxed him." Sam deadpanned.

"Uh, guys?" Danny began as the green portal closed behind them. "I don't think we're in Amity anymore."

His gothic friend made an incoherent irritated noise when she noticed her ghostly friend in the middle seat tapping his heels together.

"Huh." The halfa stopped tapping. "Didn't work."

"Of course it didn't!" She growled, annoyed. "We're not in a fictional world-let alone Oz!"

However, the boy wasn't listening. His eyes, staring at the metal plate on the yellow house in front of them, had grown wide and his jaw had slacked. Abruptly snapping into action, he grasped the steering controls and jerked them upwards. The Specter Speeder shot into the sky.

"What're-"

He slapped a hand over his techno-geeky friend's mouth. "_Shh_." He hissed, a finger to his lips and jerked his head towards the house.

"That's _Val's _house." He whispered. "We're in Elmerton."

Both of his companions frowned. Danny allowed twin rings of light to encompass his form and reverted back to his Fenton persona.

"Why'd the portal lead to Elmerton instead of Danny's house?" Tucker voiced.

Sam quirked a brow. "You're just _now_ wondering?"

Just then, Valerie herself strode out of the house. Oddly enough, she looked puzzled. The girl shifted the lone backpack strap on her shoulder and started walking. She stared intently at the ground.

"Who's Kim Possible…?" She mused aloud.

The trio shared a glance. "Possible?" The halfa mouthed but Tucker shrugged.

"No clue." He mouthed in return.

By the time the Red Huntress was out of sight Danny smiled wryly. "Vote to go back home and figure out what I did wrong later?"

"Aye." His companions chorused.

"Might be good to go invisible." Sam advised."Wouldn't want Valerie the ghost slayer to notice us."

"Good point."

Bracing his palms against the seat cushion, he transferred his ghost energy into the seat and let it spread throughout the vehicle. Cold flooded their senses until the drop in temperature ebbed into a comfortably cool level. A relaxed hush fell over the group.

"Say." The halfa glanced at the position of the sun. "Why do you think it's morning?"

The goth frowned. "That _is _odd. We couldn't have been in the Ghost Zone _that _long."

"Yeah," the techno-geek added. "I'm not even tired."

The ghost boy groaned. "You don't think I broke into a freaky time changing-" He stiffened.

"Danny?" His best friend prodded. "Hey man, what's up?"

He groaned again. "I am _such _a spazz!"

"Da-"

"_Time_." The boy emphasized. "Which ghost do we know that handles time?"

Sam blinked as realization clicked. "_Clockwork._"

"_Exactly_. I think I broke into Clockwork's _lair._"

Tucker glanced at the halfa. "I thought that fortress thing _was _his lair."

"Do _all _ghosts have a personal lair?" Sam eyed the ghost boy.

"Don't know." The half-ghost shrugged. "I don't even know if that _was _his place. I mean, who else would own hourglasses?"

"Your guess is as good as mine." Tucker replied.

The gothic girl smirked. "Guess _your _personal lair is your room." She teased.

Danny smiled dryly as the girl continued. "Though, we ought to apologize."

The boy sighed. "He probably already knows, being master of time and all."

"After breakfast?" She clarified.

"After breakfast." He confirmed.

**~(~_~)~**

They flew invisibly over to the town and chatted idly until they finally flew over Danny's house. While maintaining the invisibility, Danny channeled the prickling sensation of intangibility into his palms and through the Specter Speeder. Sam titled the controls and soon the vehicle descended through the roof of the Ops Center and down into the lab in the basement. After confirming that neither adult Fenton was in the vicinity via his red bereted friend twisting in his seat, the ghost boy halted the flow of energy into the vehicle and both he, his friends, and the Specter Speeder blinked into visibility.

Without a word, Danny transformed and grasped his companion's waists. He floated upwards, phased through the vehicle, and soon turned invisible as the trio passed through the ceiling until they landed in his room. He reverted to his human form.

"Jazz'll have covered for us." The floppy black-haired teen started. "So... Nasty Burger?"

The goth's face scrunched. "For _breakfast_?"

The boy shrugged. "Last I checked they're were mutant hot dogs in the fridge and I doubt mom, let alone dad, went shopping."

Her shoulders sagged. "Nasty Burger it is."

"And then a movie!" The PDA boy piped up.

Smiling wryly, Sam corrected. "We have to visit Clockwork, remember?"

Tucker shrugged, but he was smiling. "Worth a shot."

"_Danny_?" A different voice cut in and startled the teens. "What are you doing here? You three should be at school!"

The teens shared a puzzled glance as the blue-eyed teen's mother rushed into the room and ushered them out and down the stairs.

It was Sam who found her voice first. "Mrs. Fenton? It's Sat-"

"Hurry or you'll be late!" Maddie ignored her. "Here, I'll drive you."

Danny finally snapped out of his confused trance. His mother never drove him to school.

"Uh," he twisted in her grip but she had a firm grasp. "Mom? Today's not-" Before he could continue, they were suddenly outside then in the car.

"Buckle your seats!" The woman called.

The three complied. Danny decided to humor his mother. "If today's a school day, then what day is it?"

She frowned. "Danny, sweetie, don't be silly! It's Monday."

A choking sound could be heard in the background. The teen turned in the passenger seat to eye his technologically inclined friend. "You don't think we were in the-"

A feminine hand snagged the boy's red beret and stuffed it into his mouth.

"_Tucker."_ The girl whispered fiercely, shooting a pointed head tilt towards Maddie.

The boy smiled sheepishly then swatted her hand away and removed the beret. "_Ew._" His face scrunched. "Now it's wet."

The girl huffed but didn't reply. She shifted her focus onto the slightly amused and faintly worried boy in the front. Catching her stare, the boy side-eyed the driver and tilted his head but the girl shook her head. He nodded and lowered his jaw to mouth a reply.

_"Danny._ Sit and turn around." The blue-eyed boy's mother reprimanded.

Sulkingly, the boy flopped down onto the seat and faced forwards. "So, mom," he began, abruptly ending his frown-fest, "what did you do over the weekend?"

Maddie spun the wheel and the RV turned the corner. Casper High was in sight. "Sweetie, you _know _I've been working in the lab."

"Well I know _that._" He grumbled, eyeing the school with dread then continued half-heartedly to himself. "You always are…"

The car slowed to a stop in front of the building and the teens clambered out of the car.

"Have a nice day, sweetie!" She called, oblivious to her son's sour mood.

"Thanks Mrs. Fenton." Sam and Tucker chorused.

Danny waved as she drove away. "Bye mom!"

It was only until they walked through the doors did they realize they didn't have their backpacks.


	3. Chapter 3

_Not This Time_

Turns out, they were late anyway to their first class. Somehow only by a few minutes, but their English teacher still gave them the stink-eye. However, the plump man was accustomed to the late arrival of one of the three and had learned it was best to ignore the tardy and continue with the lesson. Admittedly, the man was slightly surprised the girl and PDA wielding boy were late. He hoped the Fenton wasn't starting to share his bad habits.

Too soon for the man the class drew to a close. The bell rang.

"Bye Mr. Lancer." Some students droned before zipping out of the room in a whirlwind.

Danny was almost out the door via blending with the crowd but his teacher's voice stopped him.

"Mr. Fenton." The man frowned. "Remember you have detention today."

_Remember?_ The teen wondered. _Just for being late?_

Reading the confusion on his face, the man clarified. "From Thursday last week as well as for not bringing anything today. You arrived late, 'forgot' your homework, left class and didn't return, _and _you didn't go to your detention on Thursday."

_Oh._ He vaguely recalled having a tough time on Thursday followed by the unusual Friday. Then this strange time skip… But it wasn't _his _fault his backpack was left at home. If his mom hadn't dragged him out of the house… Well, at least summer vacation would begin on Wednesday, then he'd be free to some degree.

The teenager sighed. "Right…"

The teacher bid him goodbye as he slumped out the door to his waiting friends. As he walked, he noticed Tucker speaking with fellow nerd Mikey in Esperanto. By the time he approached, the ginger had slipped away into the crowd.

"Do I even want to know?"

Tucker turned to him in a puzzled fashion. "Apparently there's some new gossip. Some new face called Kim Possible."

"Didn't Val mention-" His cut himself off when snippets of the crowd's murmurs drifted their way

"She can do anything!"

"I've never heard of her."

"Did you _see _her blog?"

"She's all over the news!"

"She fights crime!"

"Like Danny Phantom?" Some students swooned.

Danny preened.

"Pop that balloon before you start floating." Sam sniped. "I can barely see since your head's so inflated."

He deflated. "Can't a guy appreciate his fans?"

She simply smirked and Tucker snickered. "Apparently not."

They carried on to class as they bickered, momentarily forgetting about the mysterious crime-fighting teen.

**~(~_~)~**

"Alright," Danny plopped the tray on the table and sat down. "Who is this Kim Possible?"

"Survey says…" Sam nudged Tucker and he whipped out his PDA. "17 year old crime fighter, 'she can do anything,' Kim Possible lives in Middleton, Colorado and attends Middleton High. She started her hero work in middle school and has been saving people since."

"Huh." The halfa poked a spoon at the slop on his plate. He could've sworn it poked back "Why haven't we heard of her before?"

She nodded. "Yeah. If she's been helping people globally for years, how could people only start to notice _now?_"

Tucker smiled wryly. "This is _Amity Park_, remember? People don't exactly…" he side-eyed Danny, "got a clue."

Catching on but missing the playful jab, the half-ghost raised a hand to rub his neck. "They _did _take a long while to realize ghosts are real."

"Not to mention that a certain ghost looks _exactly like_ a certain someone." Sam whispered with a dry smirk. "Just dye your hair and wear some black and suddenly it's our resident hero."

Danny laughed nervously. "Hey, it's a pretty unlikely story. Impossible, I'd say, if it hadn't actually happened."

Tucker shrugged and tucked away his PDA. "Still," he suddenly smiled, "residents of Amity Park aren't the _only _clueless ones."

"_Tucker._" Sam's cheeks flushed but the half-ghost didn't catch on. "Sh-"

Abruptly the half-ghost gasped, a blue mist rising out of his mouth. "Uh, guys?" Immediately the two stopped to listen, they recognized his ghost sense. "We got trouble.

The room seemed to darken. The students unconsciously shivered as the temperature dropped. A green skinned glowing woman floated into the room. Her long black hair flowed behind her and her gaze settled on the halfa.

"Desiree." Danny hissed, fists clenched.

The students routinely screamed and rushed towards the doors. When the room was clear, Danny ducked beneath the table. One flash of light later and the halfa floated upwards through the table. Oddly enough, the genie seemed uninterested in the teens, as her eyes never strayed from the ghost boy's own.

"What did you do?"

"What did _I _do?" His hands glowed. "What are _you _doing?"

Desiree raised her hands placatingly. "I'm not here to fight."

"Then why _are _you here?"

The ghost's face was grim. "Because the Ghost Zone is not as it should be."

His hands lowered and the ectoplasm diminished. "What do you mean?"

"Lairs are moving to where they shouldn't be, natural portals are opening more than usual, and the _new ghosts-_"

"Whoa, hold up." He raised his own hands. "What're you-"

"_Ghost!_"

Danny groaned and Desiree scowled. "Of all the times…"

In through the walls bust the Fenton RV. Pieces of the wall and windows scattered about the room. Fortunately, no one was in the room to be hit by the vehicle or the debris. Unfortunately, his dad was driving which meant…

"Eat this, ghost scum!" His dad leapt out of the driver's side and his mom out the passenger's. Both aimed bazookas at the floating ghosts.

Desiree floated upwards. "See the Zone for yourself." Then she flickered out of sight.

"_Wait-_" He called but another round of "_ghost!_" garnered his attention.

The teen sighed and opted to pull his own vanishing act. He disappeared. His orange-jumpsuit wearing father waved his bazooka around wildly, searching for the unseen ghosts. Sam and Tucker also decided to take their leave. The duo tossed away their cafeteria slop and hurried out of the room.

As soon as the double doors shut behind them, one Danny Phantom appeared. He dropped to the tiled floor and habitually checked for witnesses before he reverted back to human form.

"Aren't we gonna go after her?" Tucker wondered.

The boy shook his head. "I don't think she's here to cause trouble."

"Why _else _would she be here?" Sam pressed. "She's never warned us about trouble before-she's usually the one _causing _the trouble."

Danny frowned. "I know, but…" He floundered for words. "I just have this feeling."

"Yeah?" His techno friend prompted.

"The hourglass I knocked over, it had-"

Abruptly the bell rang and floods of students entered the halls. Danny silently fumed. _That's the second time today that I've been cut off. _Unable to continue discussing ghosts or risk being overheard, the trio shuffled off to class.


	4. Chapter 4

_Not This Time_

"Alright." Danny laid his map of the Ghost Zone atop the only clear spot on his desk. "This is getting weirder and weirder."

Tucker swiped the chair and plopped down into the seat. "Review?"

"First we tried to map out the Zone on Friday." Sam shot her friend a knowing look. "_Black _Friday."

"Klemper showed up," the halfa continued, ignoring the pointed glance,"and chased me into the Zone's Lairs. I crashed into a ghost's-probably Clockwork's-lair and broke a big hourglass."

"Then we met again, Klemper off to who knows where and-"

"_Oh_." Danny interrupted Tucker. "I meant to tell you this earlier! The hourglass had this writing thing-"

"Inscription?" Sam quirked a brow.

"Right and-"

Heavy footsteps pounded up the stairs. A hand slapped solidly against the ghost boy's forehead and dragged down his face.

"Oh for the love of…" He glared exasperatedly at the door.

Sure enough, his closed door bent under the excited fists of his father. His friends smiled sympathetically. Well, Sam smiled. Tucker just snickered. The teen shot his best friend a glare and opened the door.

"_Danny-boy!_" His dad cheered and shoved a blue cylinder close to his face. "I found this in the lab on the floor in front of the portal and tweaked it a bit. Now it can open portals into the Ghost Zone _and _catch ghosts then send them into the Ghost Zone!"

The boy's curiosity, and slight dread, was piqued. "So it's a portable portal?"

"That it is!" His dad patted his back. Danny stumbled under the force. "I call it the Fenton Catcher and Sender!"

Snickers could be heard from his room. "Why not call it the Fenton Portable Portal?"

His father just laughed good naturedly, enthusiastically patted his back, and left.

"Well," the teen shut the door from his position on the floor, "that's odd."

The snickers increased in volume. "Which part?" Tucker laughed breathlessly. "The name, his entrance, or your face-plant from his friendly pats?"

Danny stood and rubbed his face. _Owie…_ He whined absently to himself. _Friendly pats? More like happy __punches to the back._ He turned to face the others.

"He said he _found _it in front of the portal." He walked to the bed and plopped down.

Sam furrowed her brow. "You think your mom invented it?"

"And just _left _it on the floor?" Tucker countered dubiously. "Isn't that something Danny's dad would do?"

"Yeah…" The half ghost frowned contemplatively. "Maybe Vlad-"

"Would give us an easy way to catch and send ghosts to the Ghost Zone?" She finished skeptically. "I don't think so."

Danny raked a hand through his hair. "Well what _else_ am I supposed to think? That it just came through the _portal_?"

A pause descended between the three before Sam spoke. "It's a possibility..."

"It's never happened before." Danny countered.

"Doesn't mean it can't happen now."

"You know," Tucker glanced down at his PDA, "she's got a point. It's four o' clock right now. Do you want to meet with Clockwork alone or with us in the Speeder?"

Danny hesitated then, "I'll go alone, it'll be faster that way."

She raised a brow. "You sure? We don't know how this time skip has affected the Zone."

Danny shrugged. "I'll be fine. I don't know how long this will take so do you want to stick around or..."

Sam glanced at Tucker who tucked away his PDA. "I think I'll head home, Mom's cooking lasagna for dinner."

She paused then nodded. "Yeah, I'll go home too. _I _on the other hand," she shot the techno-geek a lighthearted glare, "will be eating a _meatless_ dinner."

Danny smiled and stepped into the hallway as his two friends followed suit. "To each their own, huh?"

Even after two years, his friends still squabbled over diets. Well, not really anymore. Freshman year held actual tension between the two, but over the course of sophomore year the bickering shifted into an odd sort of friendly banter. Danny smiled. At least he didn't have to constantly play mediator between the two.

Sam stopped short. "You should bring the Fenton Phones just in case."

Tucker smiled. "Just in case Klemper tries to befriend you again."

"_Or_," the goth rolled her eyes, "just in case you get into trouble and need help. Last time we didn't wear them we got separated and couldn't find each other before you went and broke something important."

Danny blushed. "I think I have a few extras in the lab. I'll be right back."

And with that, he phased through the floor. The girl and techno-boy wandered to the stairs and were about to walk down them when their friend reappeared with three pairs of neon green earbuds each with a microphone.

Tucker sighed. "They're still a fashion don't." But placed the devices into his ears anyway.

Sam fiddled with the ghost noise filters, adjusting them so they fit comfortably. "When you go through the Zone, tell us what it's like. If what Desiree said is true, then be on the look out for any natural portals or different ghosts."

Grinning goofily, he saluted. "Aye, aye, captain."

The girl gave him a flat look but she was smiling. Soon they were out the front door and the half-ghost glanced around him before sinking through the floor and into the vacant lab. He inhaled, transformed into his ghostly counterpart, and flew into the open portal. Green and black swirled before his eyes before taking shape into what was formally familiar terrain of the Ghost Zone.

"_What?_" Danny screeched to a halt.

Skulker's lair wasn't supposed to be in front of the Fenton Portal!

The robot suited ghost himself floated up from his island. "What did you do this time, whelp?"

"Why does everyone think _I _did something?" Danny grumped.

Skulker leveled a flat stare at him. "Okay, fine, I did. But I'm going to fix it so if you could not hunt me right now, that'd be great, thanks."

"_Hey!_"

And Danny zoomed away.

~(~_~)~

After a confusing navigation and a few mutterings of, "if the Ghost Zone stays like this, it's gonna be a pain to remap. And we were almost done with our map too."

They weren't. Not even close. But he didn't know that.

"If the Ghost Zone is the flip side of ours," Sam's voice crackled through his Fenton Phones, "then what kind of impact does this have on our side?"

Danny frowned. "What?"

Sam sighed. "I'm re-reading Freakshow's book, Danny. Even though he's been in jail since our fight with him during the summer, he knows a lot about the supernatural. He did know a lot about the reality gauntlet, remember?"

Danny rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, but I destroyed that thing. That's not what I'm asking."

He could hear the frown in her tone. "You do know that the Ghost Zone is the flip side of our plane of existence, right?"

"...You might've mentioned it once..."

Sam tone flattened. "That was when you were living large and the Guys in White tried to destroy the Ghost Zone with an anti-ecto missile."

Danny chuckled sheepishly. "Well I blocked the portal with a rock in the end."

Tucker's voice piped up. "According to the astro-physics in his book, when an entire dimension is suddenly removed from a plane of existence then the whole dimensional structure becomes unstable and kaflooey!"

"In other words, if the Ghost Zone goes, we go." Sam explained.

Danny swerved around a passing door and with a hint of annoyance he tried to translate. "So you're saying that on a smaller scale, not talking complete destruction of one dimension here, whatever negatively impacts the Ghost Zone will negatively impact our-hey that wasn't there before."

"And speaking of destruction," the girl added, "when the Guys in White fired that missile, it made a gooey mess in our reality, like a bubblegum bomb, but would have destroyed stuff in-Danny are you listening?"

The half-ghost hovered in front of what appeared to be an island. Curiosity piqued, he floated closer to read an peach colored sign. "Camp Mugwomp...?"

Worry gnawed inside of him. If new locations as well as ghosts were starting to show up in the Zone, how would that affect his world? Would they have random pieces of his world being replaced by...what exactly? Where were the locations and ghosts coming from? Alternate dimensions?

He frowned. There were only two dimensions that he was aware of, the Ghost Zone and his world, but could there really be more? And if there were more then, as the new dimensions appear here, what would happened to the old ones? Would they just move like Skulker's lair did? His eyes widened. Would he even be able to find Clockwork or would the ghost's citadel have moved elsewhere as well? What if the the ghost of time's fort was replaced? He bit his lip.

He needed to find Clockwork. Pronto.

"-nny? Dude, you there?" Tucker's voice startled him out of his thoughts.

He shook his head. "Yeah I'm here."

Danny launched into the air, thinking. _I messed up big time, didn't I?_ He eyed the unfamiliar island. _Hopefully I can fix things before anything goes kaflooey._

~(~_~)~

Danny continued on his way but the path felt increasingly longer and he had a niggling sense in the back of his mind that he'd forgotten to tell his friends something important. His gaze absently roamed over another unfamiliar island, with an distinctly sickly green shaded lake. This time the island was accompanied by a decrepit old sign reading "Camp Wannaweep"

"Wannaweep, Mugwomp, what kinds of places are these? Next thing you know I'll be seeing the camp that's next to Lake Eerie-"

"Excuse us," a friendly albeit accented tone interrupted.

Danny slowed to a halt and warily surveyed the lost looking couple. Oddly enough, they seemed to be of hawaiian descent. The woman had shoulder-length black hair, a purple tank top, a purple skirt with white flowers, and yellow round earrings. The man also wore a tank top but his was striped with green and white, his shorts were green, and he also wore sunglasses. His hair was short and messy but his smile friendly as he strummed the guitar. Both were tan and had a light glow around them, but there was no green tint to their skin to hint at signs of ectoplasm.

He didn't feel threatened, but he'd learned caution was valuable. "Yeah?"

"Can you tell us the way to Kauai'i?" The woman began. "We're looking for our daughters."

The half-ghost hesitated. He knew not all ghosts were dead-set on conquering the human realm or just causing havoc. The Wisconsin dairy king and Frostbite were proof enough, but he couldn't be sure, especially if said ghosts were actively searching for people.

In that case... "Why?"

The man and woman appeared puzzled but the woman spoke. "We've been trying to check that they are alright so we can move on but we can't seem to find our way and this place is different from where we resided previously..."

Danny fidgeted uncomfortably and shifted his gaze upwards. "Uh... I don't know how to help..."

The Fenton phones crackled to life and Tucker's voice echoed in his ear. "Danny? Who are you talking to?"

"I think some of the new ghosts Desiree was talking about." He muttered. "They didn't activate my ghost sense."

"Are they even ghosts?" Sam mused. "What if they're spirits?"

"Aren't they the same thing?" Danny countered beneath his breath.

Static replied before, "maybe not if your ghost sense didn't activate."

"What are they doing in the Ghost Zone?" Tucker said. "How'd they get there if they're not ghosts?"

"That's what I hope to find out." The half-ghost returned his focus to the strangers. He blinked. "Uh oh."

The couple was gone.

"What happened, D?"

"And another one bites the dust." He grumbled to himself then added in a louder voice. "I think they left."

A pause passed and his techno-friend continued. "Guess you better keep going."

"Guess so."

~(~_~)~

"Uh, guys?" Danny raised a hand to rub the nape of his neck. "Bad news."

Danny could imagine Tucker's dry smile. "You're lost, aren't you?"

The halfa smiled sheepishly as he watched a green swirling vortex of a natural portal open then close. His gaze flitted to the drifting doors followed by watching the River of Revulsion drift past before wandering to the the Ghost King's crimson castle.

"If this was two days ago, I would be next to Vlad's portal-you know, the one in his Mayor Mansion that's hidden by that ugly painting, and I would be halfway across the Zone. Instead I'm next to Pariah's castle and I don't see Vlad's portal anywhere."

A whoosh of air met his ears and a weary tone suggested. "It's been two hours since you left-"

"Two _hours_?" Danny jerked. "It's only felt like twenty _minutes_!"

"-maybe you should head back and what?"

"Sam," static distorted Tucker's voice, "I think time's outta whack too. It's Monday when it should be late Friday or early Saturday, after all. Not sure why the time speed is different, thou-"

Distantly, Danny could hear someone calling Tucker's name.

"Gotta go, guys." Tucker stated in a hushed tone. "It's dinnertime and Mom's lasagna is calling me. I'll be back in thirty minutes or so. See ya!"

A clunk sounded through the earpiece and Danny guessed the boy had put the devices down somewhere. Tucker's mother liked to have family meals where all at the table were engaged in conversation at some point. She would've made his friend remove the devices had he not done so himself. He curved around Carnivourous Canyon.

His goth friend spoke up. "I'm still here."

"M'kay." Danny hummed and absently skimmed his gaze over passing islands and doors. "Wait a minute, is that...?"

"What is-"

Danny shot forwards towards the ice covered island. "I've found Frostbite's island. Maybe he can help!"

"The Infi-map!" The girl added in an rush. "The Infi-map should be able to track Clockwork! It'll be easy to fix this once we have it."

Danny zipped to the island and weaved through the icy mountains until he arrived at the yeti-like civilization. He skidded to a halt then dove into the heart of the Far Frozen. Several eyes followed their renowned Savior of the Ghost Zone.

"Frostbite!" Danny shouted then swooped to one of the yeti-like ghosts. "Where is Frostbite?"

The ghost recoiled with wide eyes. "Great One, he is in the cave with the maps."

"Thanks bye," and Danny zoomed to the cave where Frostbite first showed him the Infi-map.

"Frostbite?" The halfa hesitated when he slowed to a stop and lowered to the ground.

The leader of the Far Frozen Realm stood with his back to the half-ghost but he turned upon hearing his name.

"Ah, greetings Danny Phantom." The ghost offered a grim smile. "You have arrived at an unfortunate time."

Unease churned in his gut. "Why's that?"

Frostbite stepped aside to reveal an open chest. "The Infi-map has vanished."

Danny froze, his jaw steadily dropped, then.

"_What?_"

He sprinted forwards to peer into the chest. Nothing. Absolutely _nothing_. No map of any kind was in the chest. He stepped back and groaned.

"Sam," he whined, "we got another problem."

Frostbite looked at him oddly until he pointed to the Fenton Phones and the yeti made an 'o' expression.

Sam sounded understandably wary. "What is it?"

"The Infi-map's gone."

A pause.

"...It's never easy, is it?"

Danny sighed. "Nope." He turned to Frostbite. "So did Vlad steal it again?"

"As far as I am aware, no one has stolen the map for only I can open this chest. Yesterday the map was there but today it is gone."

The half-ghost raised a hand to rub the nape of his neck. "So it just...left?"

"You've seen the strange occurring in the Ghost Zone, I presume?" When Danny nodded, Frostbite continued. "Something of ancient power must of have been disturbed and I believe whatever has been altered is the cause of the map's disappearance."

The teenager blushed. "Yeah, about that...I might've...broken something important, I think..."

Frostbite frowned. "If you please, describe what you might've broken."

"Well, I crashed into some ghost's lair and there was this big hourglass and I kinda, might've, tripped and uh, somehow broke it and there was this odd inscription-" He blinked. "That's it! _That's_ what I forgot to tell Sam and Tucker!"

Frostbite's frown deepened. "This hourglass, you say it had-"

"Right, right. Sam you listening too?"

"I am." The girl confirmed.

"So the hourglass had this inscription and it said something like, uh. Oh darn it. What'd it say? Possibilities, something, future, askewed? Something, time and um, separate, something something renewed? Something few? And I think there was something about something that was linear? I'm not too sure and _wow _this sounds bad, heh, I really should've paid more attention..."

The frown of the half-ghost's former mentor darkened into a grim tightening of the lips. The sixteen year old shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he waited. His goth friend was also being unnaturally quiet and he couldn't quite stop himself from fidgeting in place. The tense silence stretched.

"There is a legend among my people," the Far Frozen leader began slowly, "and it tells a tale of a powerful device that tempers time. This device is said to be in the shape of an hourglass, but it does not only control time, the device maintains space as well. Dimensions, if you will."

The almost junior crossed his arms, apprehensive but listening.

"Imagine time and space as a cloak."

Here, Frostbite unbuttoned his own blue cloak and presented the clothing for emphasis. He pointed to the weaved strands and Danny leaned closer to inspect the worn cloth.

"The fabric of this cloth is made of several strands. Each of these strands have their own space and time. Or a universe with its own timeline. But when the fabric begins to unravel..."

He shifted the fabric until the tattered end was in his furry palms.

"Dimensions with their own time are frayed until there is nothing left but a mess of strands?" Danny guessed.

"And at the root of a mess is chaos." The yeti nodded and clipped on his cloak. "Other realities and time wouldn't be destroyed. They would be mixed, confused, and tangled with several dimensions and times."

"So, just to be sure. No kaflooey?"

Frostbite stared at the boy. "Kaflooey?"

Danny flushed. "You know, like, boom?"

"Oh." The yeti leaned back. Sometimes he wondered about the Savior of the Ghost Zone. "No, there shouldn't be but we can't be sure until Clockwork is found."

"This would be easier if Clockwork came to us instead of the other way around." Danny moped. "I still don't know where he is. How can we find him?"

"Without the infi-map, we must find him in the traditional way."

The teenager side-eyed the yeti. "Let me guess. Fly around and hope for the best?"

Frostbite smiled. "Yes but fly another day for it is late. Will you stay here or attempt to return home?"

Danny raised a hand to his chin while the other rested horizontally beneath it in a classic thinking pose as he paced back and forth. Frostbite watched him but said nothing.

He adjusted the devices in his ears. "What do you think Sam?"

"I didn't catch all of it but it doesn't sound like any dimension is on the verge of extinction."

A different set of Fenton Phones crackled to life. "Say what?"

"Hey Tuck." The half-ghost greeted and added cheerfully. "We're not about to die."

Static responded. "...That wasn't funny."

The teenager beamed. "I'm in a frozen wasteland, I take my comedy where I can get it."

"Oh hardy har har. So what's the plan?"

Danny exhaled heavily and raked a hand through his hair. "I don't know. Should I head back and try again tomorrow or keep looking for Clockwork today?"

"It's almost seven." Tucker answered. "Dinner took longer than planned."

"I think you outta come back. There doesn't seem to be immediate danger so it should be alright if you come back and continue looking tomorrow."

The teenager halted. "Alright." He faced his former ice mentor. "Thanks again for your help. I might be back tomorrow and I'll keep an eye out for the infi-map."

Frostbite smiled and waved him farewell as he shot into the sky.

~(~_~)~

By the time the sophomore exited the portal, eight o' clock had rolled around and it was time to begin patrolling. He agreed to meet his friends and Jazz in the park to not only update them, but brief his sister as well while they checked for ghostly activity.

"Jazz and I are at the fountain, guys. Anytime you'd like to show up would be great."

The halfa fiddled with his Fenton Phones and glanced at his sister sitting on the bench, reading a book. Part of him couldn't believe that his eighteen year old sister was going away to college at the end of the summer, but he was proud that she managed to be accepted into her number one school. The other part of him wished she could stay because not only had she become a skilled ghost hunter over the course of two years, she became a valuable supporter as well.

"When they arrive, will you tell me what's going on?" Jazz closed her book on ghost envy and placed it on her lap.

He floated in place. "Yep. I'll explain once we're all here."

Footsteps crunching twigs on the ground alerted the siblings to the presence of his friends. The goth girl stood straight after the sprint but the techno boy still leaned forwards to brace his palms on his knees. Danny smiled wrly. Somehow Tucker just couldn't seem to get into shape, despite two years of chasing after ghosts.

Danny floated forwards to help his friend when he halted, eyes growing wide. "Uh, guys...?"

His friends and sister turned to face him, noticing his pallid face. "Danny...?" They echoed worriedly.

"I don't feel so good..."

They blinked.

_Poof_.

And Danny was gone.

~(~_~)~

**Danny Phantom episodes notably referenced: Reality Trip, Livin' Large, Infinite Realms, and Urban Jungle.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Edit:**** I can't update for the next two weeks because I have to study for my Final Exams.**

_Not This Time_

A young boy with brown hair and pink clothes lay sprawled out on the wood floor of his blue room. Scattered around his small form were waxy coated booklets, half of which depicted the proud image of a muscled man in a red jumpsuit and a massive chin, intermingled with the other half illustrating dramatic poses of a monochrome jump-suited teenager. Two small and butterfly winged figures, one with vibrant pink and curled hair and the other with a vibrant shade of green hair, hovered above the mess.

Across from the boy, next to his door, an old television atop his dresser played the news. _"Resident hero, Danny Phantom, keeps up the good work as he has once again saved a school bus full of children! This is Lance Thunder on Channel 4 of the Amity Park News! Until next time."_

A commercial came on and the pre-teen's attention jumped to the pink haired woman and green haired man. The boy scrambled to his feet, absently brushed off his blue pants, and raised his fists with a grin.

"Danny Phantom is _awesome!_" He cheered. "I wish I had ghost powers just like his! Oh man," He blinked and remembered a certain blonde from an alternate dimension, "Cindy would think that is _so _cool. I should've invited her to stay longer after Nerdtron's and my Friday the Thirteenth Dance so I could show her!"

The woman frowned when her beaming partner raised his star tipped wand. The star glowed then immediately wilted. The man and boy pouted while the woman lifted her wand. A cloud of pink burst seemingly from thin air and a thick pink book titled in cursive, _Da Rules, _appeared to float in the air. The woman flipped through the chapters.

She tapped her index finger on a page. "Giving you ghost powers would be too much like killing you, and wouldn't Cindy wonder where you _got _superpowers?"

"That sounds like a _great _idea!" The man cut in with a airheaded smile. "It'd be so much fun! Just like when we pretended to be ghosts so your ghost hunter wannabe parents got rich but almost caught us and gave us to Crocker! We should do that again!"

"_Cosmo._" The woman scolded.

The boy lowered his gaze then perked. "How about ghost abilities?"

"Still too much like killing you."

"...magic ghost powers?"

She shook her head. "Against the rules."

He whined. "But I wanna fly and shoot green things out of my hands and freeze things and go invisible and fight other ghosts!"

"Why don't you wish for those instead?" She offered. "You don't need to be a ghost to have them."

The boy placed a hand to his chin, humming then _grinned_. "Wanda, I have a _better _idea."

She watched her charge warily."Yes?"

"What if I wished _Danny Phantom _was _here_? Wishing for a ghost to appear isn't against the rules."

"That's even better!' Cosmo piped up. "It's almost like a convenient event in a fictional story where TV show episodes are referenced occasionally!"

Wanda shot her husband a strange look.

"Yeah! And if Cindy Vortex visits our dimension then she can meet him too!"

"Yeah!" Cosmo parroted. "Even though she has _no idea_ who Phantom is, she'll be so impressed!"

"Timmy," Wanda warned, "Phantom is a powerful ghost with a responsibility to his town. I don't think bringing him here is a good-"

"What could possibly go wrong?" Timmy urged.

Oh how she _hated _that boy's catchphrase.

"Phantom, Phantom, Phantom!" Her partner waved his wand wildly. "Yay!"

"I wish Phantom were here!"

Wanda sighed, the book vanished in a puff of pink smoke, and she lifted her glowing wand.

...

Nothing.

"...it didn't...work?" The boy shuffled to the woman. "Why-"

_Poof_.

Rosy smoke erupted between the fairy and the boy and Timmy stumbled backwards, eyes wide while Cosmo and Wanda shot upwards, startled. There, in the ghostly flesh, floated a _very _disoriented looking _Danny Phantom_.

Timmy grinned.

~(~_~)~

He was going to be _sick. _

First he was about to help Tucker when his stomach churned and bile rose in his throat and the ground _tilted _and seemed to surge _upwards_ but he could've _sworn _he never touched the ground and then the he background of green leaves and brown trunks went and blurred into a whirling vortex of color and noises of his friend's voices but then they were gone and then there was silence but all he could see was blobs of green, brown, black, yellow, then it all mixed until blue and _ugh make it stop_. If he wasn't floating, he would've fallen out of the twisting sights and clashing sounds but as it was he stayed in the air and wished the confusion would end.

And then it did.

The colors settled into a solid blue and the world around him slowed and took shape into what was suspiciously a room. Sound returned but he only absently noticed the presence of someone else's breathing. Once the room stopped tilting and he could breathe properly, he uprighted himself and his fighting senses kicked in. Adrenaline spiked.

There was only one person, or rather _ghost_, who could poof something, or in this case some_one_ away.

The halfa whirled on his heels, green eyes darting about. "Dammnit Desiree!" Inwardly he growled._ Who wished me to be here? _"Where are you?"

"Uh..." A pink capped pre-teen hesitated before resolving to approach and tug on the older boy's pants. "Who's Desiree?"

Danny blinked down at the buck-toothed boy._ That's a lot of pink._ He shook his head. _Is this the kid who made the wish? _"Who're you?"

"Timmy Turner!" The boy chirped. "Welcome to my house, Danny Phantom!"

"I can see that..." Danny dryly replied.

He eyed the empty fishbowl atop the nightstand next to the boy's bed, then swiveled his gaze to survey the rest of the room, mentally taking stock. _Fishbowl on a nightstand, bed, ceiling fan, dresser, TV, and a closet. _He peered out the window by the bed and frowned. _I don't recognize this area._

"But where is your house?"

"Dimmsdale."

Danny's frown deepened. "Where's Dimmsdale?"

"California."

His jaw dropped and he spun to face the eleven year old. "_California_?"

_How did some kid all the way from the _west coast_ wish me to be here? Doesn't Desiree usually lurk in Amity Park? What's she doing in California, anyway?_

"Hey, uh," the preteen was looking decidedly _less_ confident in his decision to wish for the superhero. "Are you okay? You don't look so good."

"I just-" He paled.

_Am I even in the same dimension? What if Desiree didn't-what if I've-oh crud.._. His hands shook. _Oh crud, oh crud, oh crud..._

The halfa's attention zeroed on the boy. "What's today's date?"

The preteen shuffled back. Phantom was _scary_ when his eyes glowed like that... "Saturday the fourteenth...?"

Danny's mouth dried as he lowered subconsciously to the floor. "Satur..."

His fists clenched and his boots touched the wood. _I really... I'm really in a..._

"What's the-"

"_Danny_!"

The teenager yelped and ripped the green earbuds and microphone out of his ears. He stumbled backwards, his foot caught on a page and suddenly his weight went _back_ and his arms went _forwards_ and _whoosh_ went the earbuds out of his hand but he couldn't quite catch himself and he crashed with a heavy _thud_ but piles of comic books cushioned his fall but several slipped out from under him and _flew_ through the air while one particular comic book flopped onto his face and he grunted as he pulled off the booklet.

"_Ow_." He grumbled but internally he felt relief. _I can't be in a different dimension if the Fenton Phones are working._

He started to sit up when green eyes noticed something strange. "Uh...and what are you supposed to be...?"

Backdropped by the ceiling fan, a petite couple with matching yellow crowns, one wearing a white suit with a black tie and pants and the other wearing a yellow shirt and black pants, met his gaze. The green haired man spoke first, waving a black stick with a star on it wildly.

"We're not fairies! We're uh, we're-ah!"

The man grasped the woman's arm and flew into the closet. One flash of pink smoke later, the couple returned, appearing to be transparent, and have a glow around their form, have fangs, as well as have slightly tattered clothes. Danny frowned.

"We're ghosts like you!" The woman finished but looked decidedly less exuberant than the one who appeared to be her partner.

Danny frowned. _They can't be ghosts if my ghost sense didn't go off but...maybe my ghost sense is acting up..._

"Right, let's go with that!" The preteen added though his brows were furrowed in evident confusion. "So go back to the fishbowl-I mean, the underwater realm of the undead before the boss ghost shows up!"

"It's more of a zone." Danny absently corrected as he stood and the couple vanished behind a pink cloud while a couple of fish mysteriously poofed into the fishbowl. "Right. Okay. Not odd at all." He frowned.

His gaze drifted to the fishbowl, eyes narrowing. _Something isn't right here..._ the kid clearly had something to hide, _but is it important and do I have the time to spare...?_

The preteen shifted his weight, constantly glanced at the fishbowl, and sweat beaded down his forehead. Apparently the boy must have thought he might've done something wrong or slipped up somewhere on whatever secret he had but somehow he didn't quite know _what _he slipped up on...?

Danny sighed. He didn't have time for this. _I have to get back to Amity. _His eyes widened. _Oh darnit, _Amity!

Green eyes darted around the room. _Where did they go? They couldn't have gone far. Oh... I'll never find them in this mess and Sam'll be _so _ticked for not answering sooner._

He focused on the fidgeting boy and tried for a smile. "Hey, kiddo, wanna do me a favor?"

The beaver boy brightened, suddenly eager. "Sure!" Then he scowled. "Hey! I'm not a kid!"

"Can you help me find my earbuds?" Danny ignored the protest. "There's two of them and both are green and each has a microphone."

The boy nodded and started rummaging through the chaos of his room while Danny searched the other half of the room. After a few seconds, Danny heard a mutter.

He twisted to face the kid. "What did you sa-"

_Poof._

And suddenly beaver boy was standing in front of him, arms outstretched, with his Fenton Phones in small palms. Behind the boy, a pink cloud dissolved and a yellow glow near the fishbowl faded. Danny's smile widened into a genuine grin.

"I don't know how you found them," _or what's going on, _"but thanks!"

He fiddled with the volume on the device before wedging one earbud into his ear. His grin softened into a concerned frown. His friends and sister sounded frantic. He stepped back a bit for space.

"_Guys_, Danny here. I'm okay."

He recoiled as voices simultaneously roared into his ear.

"You don't need to shout, I'm right here." His tone was gruff but he was smiling again. "No, I'm fine and I think I'm in the same dimension but the time over here is different. I'm still not sure how I..._poofed _away... I'd think Desiree but my ghost sense didn't activate and I haven't seen her. Usually she's in my face to gloat, but things have been weird lately, you know, and I actually don't think she'd pull a stunt like this while things are whacky, so..."

He paused to notice the preteen staring at him. He simpered and mouthed. "Just a sec."

He blinked. "Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm in California and it's-" He flinched. "Okay, okay, _geeze _no need to be so loud. You're gonna break my eardrums or something. Careful. Uh...I don't know. Hey, Jazz, you're a quick mathy person, how long will it take for me to fly home?"

"You're leaving already?" Beaver boy pouted. "But you just got here!"

"Not now." He murmured. "Hm? Oh, I'm in some kid's room. He's called Tammy-"

"That's a _girl's_ name."

"Tommy?"

"Timmy."

"Whatever."

The eleven year old huffed and crossed his arms while Danny continued talking to his friends.

"Wait, what?" He paused to listen then jumped. "_Sixteen hours without stopping?_ That's like more than half a day!"

He raised a hand to the nape of his neck. _That'll take forever! Who knows what else will happen before-_

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. What am I thinking? I can just invisibly go on a plane. How long will that take to get there?" He paused as his sister responded. "Well, okay, three and a half hours isn't _that _bad, right? Better than sixteen and planes are always flying in to Illinois so that shouldn't be a problem, right?" He paused again. "Okay maybe not to Amity Park but at least to Chicago. Chicago isn't _too_ far away from-"

His stomach gurgled.

Timmy's bored eyes widened into alarm. "What was that? Some kind of super cool ghost power? What does it do?"

Danny blushed. "That would be my stomach and it usually means I'm hungry."

"Ghosts have stomachs?" The preteen's jaw dropped.

The teen shrugged. "Apparently I do."

Then Timmy registered Phantom's previous statement. "You're _hungry?_" He beamed. "Great! Wait here and I'll make you breakfast really quick! Don't go anywhere!"

The child sprinted out of the room and oddly enough, the fish in the bowl vanished. The halfa watched for a moment then turned. He almost felt bad for leaving when the kid was eager to give him food but not only was it important he return home to fix the mess he made, he had a feeling that whatever the kid tried to cook was bound to be inedible. He didn't plan to stick around to find out. He could always eat once he was home.

"Don't worry about me, guys." His stomach gurgled again as he friends fretted. "I can wait a few more hours to eat. Yeah, I'm heading out now."

The icy sensation of intangibility coursed through his body and he rose into the air but before he could move, something burst behind him and the boy returned with tiny arms _loaded_.

Danny's whipped around at the sound and stared. "You..." His gaze absorbed the pile of mouth-savory food in the boy's arms and his intangibility faded. "How could you even _make _all this in-where did that table come from?"

_That table and those chairs were _not _there five minutes ago and the _mess_! _Since when was the kid's room _clean?_ When would things start making _sense?_

"Actually," he murmured, still eyeing the table. "I might be little late."

Timmy just smiled and dumped the plates of delicious food onto the table. "Well? Dig in!" The boy hopped into a chair.

Danny's mouth watered and he found himself drifting closer. He hadn't eaten anything since lunch of what appeared to be the previous day. If he noticed the fish appearing in the fishbowl, he made no sign.

"You, uh, you sure?" He hesitated. "I mean, where did you even...? _How_ did you..."

Green eyes noted the buttered toast and he subconsciously shied away from the hated food. Instead he found his hand wandering to the plate of pleasantly tan pancakes and the box of cereal. Soon he found himself sitting in one of the chairs, munching on sticky but sweet pancakes and crunchy cereal while the preteen sat in the chair next to his and shoved some of the syrupy soaked toast and flapjacks into his mouth. Only once his stomach was contented did the halfa lean back in his chair and smile.

"I don't know how you whipped all this up either, but breakfast tasted great."

He reached over and ruffled his hand through brown hair. Slight guilt stabbed him, the kid has just fed him after all and here he was ready to ditch the guy, but he knew he needed to return home. He stretched and placed a hand over his mouth as he yawned. _Hmm... _He wiped a tear from his eye. Apparently he needed sleep, too. Well, he could find a way to invisibly nap on the plane, right? He could rest then but for now he needed to actually _be _on a plane.

The average kid batted away his hand, smiled, and puffed out his chest. "Thanks!" He said in a squeaky and clearly preteen voice.

Danny smiled wryly. And the Guys in White once said _he _was pre-pubescent. Of course he voice happened to crack and rise in pitch at the time of his denial but hey, that was two years ago, when some of Amity Park wondered if he was a hero or a villain. Now though, particularly after his triumph over Pariah Dark in freshman year, he was accepted by the city to be a hero.

His smile slipped into a frown. Although many of the citizens proclaimed him a hero, the Guys in White, his parents, and sometimes Valerie persisted to hunt him. Even though her dad earned a promotion in the beginning of sophomore year, allowing her and her father to move into a small and relatively nice yellow house in Elmerton, and Danny had proved he was a good guy, the girl still held a slight grudge against him. Well, maybe one day they could form a truce and work from there. They shared a a truce in the past, concerning the safety of Dani when she was de-stabilizing, so who's to say they couldn't share another eventual truce?

Static and voices crackled in his ear and he sighed. "Listen, thanks for the meal and all, but I really outta head out now." He stood from his chair.

Beaver boy protested. "But you just _got_ here! Can't you stick around a while longer? _Please?_"

Danny shook his head. "Sorry kiddo, no can do. See ya."

The halfa floated into the air and flew to the window. Ice raced through his veins and he phased through the glass. A moment afterwards, however, the teenager hesitated and returned to the preteen's room. Danny frowned suspiciously upon noticing the absence of the table and chair. He glanced at the distinctly not ghost-like couple floating in the air then shifted his focus onto the boy sulking on the bed.

"Hey, uh..." He blinked when the boy perked and beamed.

The floating woman's eyes widened and, grasping the green haired man's arm, the couple disappeared behind a pink cloud. Danny cast the disspating cloud a glance but otherwise didn't comment.

The preteen leapt off his bed and trotted to him. "You're back!"

"Yeah, about that," he raised a hand to rub the back of his neck. "I don't suppose you have directions to the nearest airport?"

The boy grinned. "I can show you the way!"

The half-ghost scrunched his nose. He really didn't want some eleven or ten year old boy tagging along. "If you could just tell me that'd be great. Or maybe if you have a computer I could print out a map?"

Instead of listening, the kid strutted out of his room. "Follow me!"

Danny sighed and floated after him. Beaver boy jogged down a set of stairs, turned a corner, and emerged into a living room. The half ghost rolled his eyes as they crossed the room to access the door. If he really needed speed then he could just pick the preteen up and fly there while the boy gave directions. Maybe, though, he'd be better off just aimlessly searching for the airport. Who knew if the kid even knew the location of the airport?

Timmy turned the knob and opened the door, Danny trailing slowly after him. The preteen started in surprise upon seeing who stood in front of the door and Danny frowned, unable to see why the buck-toothed boy stopped and stared. He drifted closer.

A relatively deep voice, clearly a man's, exclaimed. "-icky's out of town and is on a summer camp trip for two weeks?"

Danny frowned. _Icky's a name?_

He floated next to the brunet. A tall black haired man in a suit spoke on a black flip phone. Danny assumed the man to be the preteen's father, or maybe the neighbor, and guessed the boy must've inherited his brown hair from his mother. The man continued speaking in a tone blending monotone and surprise and Danny watched in slight fascination. Listening to the man talk was almost like listening to his english teacher speak when the man was surprised in class. Well, not really, but close enough.

The black haired man flipped the phone shut and sighed, turning to enter the house. He paused in exaggerated surprise.

"Hey!" He pointed at the staring white haired teen. "You're that pop singer Chip Skylark!"

Danny blinked. "Who?"

"Did you dye your hair?" The man squinted and leaned forwards. "Wasn't it black before?"

He frowned. "No, and-"

"Never mind! Want to babysit our son?"

The halfa recoiled. He didn't have time to babysit! "Huh? N-"

"You do? That's great!"

"Wha-"

"Here's five bucks. Bye!" The suited man swooped forwards, stuffed money into his palm and zipped away.

Danny stared at the spot where the man stood for a long while afterwards.

~(~_~)~

**Episodes Referenced: **

****Fairly Odd Parents: **Poltergeeks**

**Fairly Odd Parents &amp; Jimmy Neutron: Power Hour 2**

****Danny Phantom: Reality Trip, Reign Storm, Double Cross my Heart, and D-Stabilized****


End file.
